golf and Mediterranean scenery. Fairways run through natural vegetation, with bunkers, water and changes in elevation forcing players to think carefully about club selection and positioning.
It is not simply a course where the views distract you from the golf. In several places, the landscape is an integral part of the challenge.
The 18th, for example, is a demanding par four in which the tee shot must be positioned carefully before a blind second approach to a narrow, raised and sloping green. It is a fitting conclusion to a round that becomes increasingly tactical as it progresses.
THE HOLE TO REMEMBER Ask golfers which hole they remember and there are several contenders.
The fifth is particularly formidable. Ranked the course’ s numberone handicap hole, it combines bushes, out-of-bounds, a lake, bunker trouble and a green perched on a rocky spur. The challenge is less about simply hitting the ball a long way than finding the correct route through a complicated landscape.
But the ninth and tenth provide perhaps the most dramatic sequence.
At the ninth, the approach requires the player to negotiate approximately 70 metres of water before reaching a split-level green surrounded by bunkers. Then comes the tenth, a par three of 160 metres from the men’ s tees, with water close to both tee and green and no safe alternative route around it.
The tenth is therefore the hole that can live longest in the memory: a classic risk-and-reward island-style moment, even though the green itself is substantial. Commit to the shot and it can be exhilarating. Miss it and the lake is waiting.
For a shorter game, the Yellow Course provides a nine-hole alternative, designed by Franco Piras, former Italian national-team player and a golf designer associated with Gary Player Design. Its eighth hole is particularly memorable, requiring the tee shot to carry water to reach the green.
The club also offers a practice facility with multiple tees, bunkers and practice greens, together with a golf academy, pro shop, club hire and clubhouse facilities.